East Hartford's Onyx Spirits To Release Aged Whiskey

EAST HARTFORD — — Think about whiskey aged in oaken barrels and what comes to mind? Scotland? Tennessee?

Think again. Think Connecticut.

Onyx Spirits Co., which has produced its signature, unaged Onyx Moonshine since 2011, announced Monday that a limited batch of aged whiskey is to be distributed to Connecticut stores and restaurants in December.

The distillery has been aging its moonshine in 33, five-gallon barrels sealed in organic bees wax, company co-founder Adam von Gootkin said. The moonshine is made from corn, malted grains and Connecticut spring water. Aging the liquor in charred-oak barrels will add color, smokiness and flavors that will morph the moonshine into a traditional, Connecticut whiskey, von Gootkin wrote in a news release.

"Six months in a five-gallon barrel is equivalent to approximately three years in a standard 53-gallon whiskey barrel, due to the increased surface value ratio," he wrote.

The 33 barrels have been offered exclusively to stores and restaurants in the state, with only one barrel allowed for each location, the release said. Each barrel will yield roughly 30 bottles at 91 proof, and each barrel's batch will have a unique flavor, von Gootkin wrote.

The 750ml bottles are to be hand-labeled with the barrel and bottle number and will retail for about $60 each. Less than 1,000 bottles are to be produced for the December 2013 batch.

To make Onyx Moonshine and the aged whiskey as local as possible, company co-founder Peter Kowalczyk has started growing corn on his family farm in Wethersfield. That homegrown corn is to be used in 2014 for both Onyx Moonshine and the new whiskey, the release said.

Von Gootkin said batches of the barrel-aged whiskey are to be released every six months.